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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28780131">Ethan Slid into the Server</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadwrongFox/pseuds/BadwrongFox'>BadwrongFox</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adopted Children, Adoption, Badwrong, Blackmail, Chatting &amp; Messaging, Content approved by SCAR, Cruelty, Date Rape Drug/Roofies, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Discord - Freeform, Drugged Sex, Dubious Morality, Extremely Dubious Consent, Extremely Underage, Gaslighting, Grooming, Implied/Referenced Incest, Internet, Loneliness, M/M, Pedophilia, Power Imbalance, Psychopathology &amp; Sociopathy, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn, Social Media, Underage Sex, Webcams</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 07:08:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Rape/Non-Con, Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,518</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28780131</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BadwrongFox/pseuds/BadwrongFox</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A very fucked up social worker has selected his next victim.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Boy/His Social Worker</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>63</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Sin Corps</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Mind the tags. If they don’t happen immediately in this chapter, they will be here soon. </p><p>If you don’t like to read about fucked up shit, this isn’t for you. All you other perverts, imma take you on a magic carpet ride. </p><p>This was written as a collaboration with an author who wishes to remain anonymous.</p><p>Thanks to VomitCenter for betaing this chapter for me!!</p>
    </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you want to read more about Josh’s rough beginnings, read my story ‘A Man with a Van and a Plan’ https://archiveofourown.org/works/29641002</p><p>Be warned, it is dark.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>This isn’t the first time he’s done this. It isn’t even the second time he’s done this. Josh McKenzie has a problem. He’s had it all his life.</p><p>He originally noticed it was an issue when he was fourteen, he remembers exactly where he was when it happened. Josh and his friends were in the lunchroom, yelling over each other to be heard as they discussed who the ‘hottest’ people they knew were. They were an obnoxious, rowdy bunch that got sat in the back corner of the room because they were so loud.</p><p>Jamal had just said that he thought Trisha was the prettiest, then Jackson said that her older brother Chris was good looking and then Josh had blurted out that his younger brother, Noah, was a hottie. The entire table had gone silent—Noah was only 9 years old.</p><p>He’d managed to laugh it off as a joke then, but that day in 8th grade was when he realized: as he got older, the people he got crushes on didn’t.</p><p>So Josh had gotten secretive. He got better and better at hiding who he truly was. He fucked enough pretty kids his age to seem normal and when he finished his Masters in Social Work, he married an old-fashioned, uptight, religious woman.</p><p>His family thought that being bisexual must have been a phase and he was marrying Emma out of love. He wasn’t. It was fucked up, but he married Emma because she was a woman, and he wanted kids someday. And she could give them to him.</p><p>He found a job with the county two months after he graduated and six months after that, he and Emma had bought their first house together. He’d hated the area at first—but now that he’d lived in the suburbs for almost a year, he loves it.</p><p>They were so family oriented. They had been about to try for a baby at his suggestion, but then Emma’s mother got sick. She split her time between her parent’s house and the home she shared with Josh, but she said she was too stressed out and tired to even have sex, much less have a baby. He couldn’t even fuck with her birth control to force the issue because she wouldn’t let him fuck her. It was infuriating.</p><p>He doesn’t want to wait—this plan is going to take a long time. Babies and toddlers don’t become sexy overnight. It will take at least six, if not nine years for his kid to get to the right age. He acutely felt like he was wasting time. If he had known that she was going to want to wait to have kids he never would have married her.</p><p>Not having relief on the way and not even being able to have the small consolation prize of having sex with Emma was taking its toll. She was small-statured and fine-boned and that wasn’t a coincidence. He told her it was ‘cleaner’ to shave and wouldn’t have sex with her if she didn’t, so if she didn’t talk and he didn’t look too hard he could have a good time.</p><p>All things considered, Josh had decided to take things into his own hands—again. He’s had three sexually satisfying experiences in his life.</p><p>The first time was shortly after he reached his realization when he was fifteen. He picked up babysitting and had a regular gig taking care of a ten year old named Parker. He was a spoiled brat and the only thing Josh got to do before he freaked out was put his hand on the kid’s dick and move it around a little. Josh had come in his pants.</p><p>The second time was Olivia when he was seventeen. She was a gorgeous eleven year old who he found walking home from school one day by herself. At the time, he’d had a minivan that he told people he only bought because he got it for cheap but in all honesty, he got exactly what he wanted.</p><p>The first day he got the van he stopped at a dumpster on the way to his parent’s house and threw away all of the back seats. He told his mom it came like that and they didn’t care enough about him to worry about it, or to notice that he kept a sleeping bag in the back.</p><p>Olivia had cried and cried. He got her into his car and started driving her toward her house. And sure, he dropped her off at her doorstep but not before he parked in the deserted parking lot of Ebenezer Baptist Church and stuffed her prepubescent pussy with his cock. He still jacks off to the pictures he took and that one sound clip of her sobbing.</p><p>He’d told her he’d show everyone the pictures to keep her quiet, but it hadn’t worked. The little baby had whined to her parents about her crotch hurting and they took her to the doctor. The dad initially got locked up for sexual abuse but there was a huge media circus around his DNA not matching and then there was a bit of a manhunt. He had to purposefully wreck his minivan while out of town to get rid of the evidence. Whiplash was a bitch.</p><p>That experience had taught him to be more careful, so he started looking into child psychology in school which had gradually brought him to his current career—social work. He jacked off to his original material as well as photos and videos he got off of the dark web for the next six years, before he got a safe opportunity.</p><p>Mason had been perfect. Well, almost. He was a little young for Josh’s tastes at eight, but beggars can’t be choosers. Plus, he more than made up for that with his other attributes. He was a wisp of a kid that was withdrawn to the extreme and might have had some sort of developmental setback at some point. He didn’t talk.</p><p>Josh was interning with a public school as part of his Master’s program and got to bring Mason into his mentor’s office to check on how he was doing with his IEP three times a week. Any kid that wasn’t on track scholastically got an IEP—individualized learning plan—and special assistance. Josh had made sure that Mason’s time with him had been very special.</p><p>All of these moments brought Josh to where he was now—employed as a Caseworker with 28 kids under his care and standing on the doorstep of a recent adoptive family. Today was the day he was going to move forward—he needed a light at the end of the tunnel or he was going to do something risky, like buy a van again. Ever since he first met Ethan, he’d had a crush on the kid—his body was sexy as hell and made it hard for Josh to focus during meetings with him. He’d been Ethan’s caseworker since he first got hired by the department about 10 months ago.</p><p>Everything in Ethan’s mannerisms suggested a perfect target—he had trust issues, was all over the place with his under-managed ADHD, had a history of lying and attention seeking, but was still a loner. Perfect.</p><p>God, just knowing that today he is setting his plan in motion has Josh revved up. He put his hand in his pocket and adjusted his hard on to the side so it wouldn’t be as noticeable, then stepped forward and rapped on the door.<br/>
——-<br/>
Ethan heard the knock at the front door and his adoptive mother, Jackie Stepsen, went to open it. Mrs. Stepsen was a lovely lady well into her thirties who had a lot going for her—a pretty figure, gorgeous jet black hair, and a well-paying job. She had been trying to be nice to Ethan since he was adopted two weeks ago, but something about her bugged him.</p><p>The door downstairs opened and closed as Jackie greeted Mr. Mackenzie. He liked his case worker well enough but he remained in his room at his desk. The Stepsens had known that he liked computers, so they had had a brand new desk from Ikea waiting for him when he moved in, although it hadn’t been assembled.</p><p>It had taken almost 3 hours for him to get the desk ready to go, but it had been fun to set up and he was actually quite proud of it. Although they had said they wanted to support him with his interest in computers, the Stepsens had put down some stringent rules about internet usage. He wasn’t supposed to use the internet for longer than an hour a day and the Stepsens had even put some child-safety things in place to keep him off of certain sites and so that the internet wouldn’t work on his computer after 10pm. It was bullshit. It didn’t take Ethan long to learn the workarounds.</p><p>"Ethan? Mr. Mackenzie is here! Are you dressed? He’s coming up!" Mrs. Stepsen’s high-pitched voice filtered up from the bottom of the stairs. She had been nothing but nice to him after a fight they had had earlier in the week, and it kind of pissed Ethan off.</p><p>Of course, Ethan wasn’t dressed. He’d been fucking around on his new computer, downloading some games and other programs that would optimize his comptuer’s performance and help him bypass the stupid bitch’s piss-poor internet restriction measures.</p><p>No, he thought, before rolling his eyes and quickly closing the download pages for a couple programs that would help his computer run better, and also bypass the stupid bitches piss-poor internet.</p><p>He groaned and threw his headphones off and onto his desk. "Gimme a minute!" he shouted before mumbling a couple of curses under his breath and locking his door. Thank god for locks, it had been the only thing he had asked for in his new room.</p><p>When Mrs. Stepsen had pried and asked why—even though Ethan knew she knew because she must have already read his file—Ethan had flown off the handle. Like, seriously lost it. He had yelled at her and called her a lot of different, awful names, but she had deserved it! She shouldn’t have asked!! He knew that every adoptive family got extensive documentation on what their brand new, underprivileged charity cases had been through. Fuck her.</p><p>Either way, he could only assume that this is why Josh was here. Probably to scold him for calling her ‘a stupid whore who only adopted him so she didn’t have to spread her legs any longer.’</p><p>‘Whore’ was one of his bio-Dad’s favorite insults. He’d loved calling Ethan’s mom a stupid whore. Shaking his head to come back to the moment, Ethan quickly threw on a pair of two-day old jeans and his favorite oversized hoodie. “Fuckin’ shit! Come on!” he mumbled under his breath as he reached in his chest of drawers, fumbling for some socks.</p><p>______</p><p>Making his way up the steps, Josh wasn’t surprised that the transition from Ethan’s foster to adoptive home wasn’t going as smoothly as everyone hoped. Mrs. Stepson had never had anything bad happen to her in her life, so of course she’s not going to be able to relate to the kid.</p><p>Although with most of his other charges, he tries to be a friend, almost a big brother figure, he’s never been that way with Josh. If he tried that, the kid would never have developed the tentative respect for him he has now. As it stands, from everything he knows about Ethan, he’s had Josh in the picture longer than most of his family members.</p><p>He knocks softly on the door and doesn’t even try the handle, knowing that Ethan will open it when he is good and ready and not a second before. The kid really can be an asshole sometimes. “Hey Ethan. It’s Mr. McKenzie. I’d like to come in and talk with you for a few minutes if that’s okay. Or we can go for a walk around the neighborhood to talk—that’s up to you.”</p><p>Josh always gives the kids these little choices, something that they can control. It makes them trust him more, subconsciously. And he wants Ethan to trust him.</p><p>Ethan quickly puts some socks on and scrambles to the door, trying his best not to fall over in the process and failing. "Fuck..." he curses just as he catches himself against the wall. He takes a deep breath to try to calm himself before unlocking the door and opening it.</p><p>Believe it or not, he actually likes Josh. Since Ethan’s been under his care, things have actually improved a lot. His last Case Worker, Nadine Rogers, was a grade-A bitch who liked to put him back in his place. She liked to remind him that he was the child and she the adult. As if he could forget.</p><p>"Let's stay in," he said quietly, before going to sit back at his desk. He didn't even automatically reach for his headphones like he did with every other professional recently. He respected Josh, and was actually kind of glad he was here. He felt like Josh would at least kind of be on his side.</p><p>He leaned forward and whispered, head nodding to his open bedroom door. “Is she waiting in the hallway? I don't want her to hear us. Can you shut the door?”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Ethan. You know we’re not allowed to have it shut.” Josh said before hesitating, “....But this is our first meeting in this house and I think you should be able to talk with me comfortably without being worried about anyone overhearing.” Josh had sat down but stood back up again, walking over to the door and shutting it firmly.</p><p>He returns to Ethan’s bed—he’d love to flop over and shove his face in the sheets where Ethan’s crotch usually rests, but as usual he is able to maintain control over his inappropriate impulses, instead saying, “Hey, it’s good to see you. I’ve been thinking about you and how your transition has been going a lot these last two weeks. What’s been going on?”</p><p>Open-ended questions are the only way to get anything out of kids. If he had asked Ethan if everything was okay, he’d probably get a ‘Yeah’ in response and nothing else. But Ethan usually wanted to talk, if the people with him gave him enough room to.</p><p>Ethan felt a wave of relief over him as Josh shut the door. He didn't like the idea of anyone overhearing, especially not the Stepsens. The thought made his hackles go up.</p><p>The little boy pulled his legs up into his chest and looked at the floor. He looked so tiny and sad, it made Josh’s dick twitch. There was something about someone being vulnerable that really did it for him.</p><p>"It’s going fine...I guess...I started school on Monday, but I don't like it,"he said, keeping his eyes on the floor. “She has been insisting on driving me to school and acts like I can’t take care of myself. I'm eleven...not five!" He frowned, a small crease of irritation forming in the skin of his forehead. "And...she's nosey," he says a little petulantly.</p><p>Josh’s brow furrows with concern—mostly feigned, of course. He’s not a good person. “What did she do that invaded your privacy?” he asks, cutting straight to the chase.</p><p>Mentally, Josh is already preparing a list of things to work on with Mrs. Stepsen: namely to let Ethan take the bus and leave the kid alone for a few weeks. That will help Ethan have more time to himself and make it less likely she will notice if he’s having issues.</p><p>"She...She asked about my past...about my Dad. She wanted to know if I needed to talk about what he...." he gripped his hands, resisting the urge to throw something from his desk, “Did to me.” Ethan hated mentioning it, he had enough problems talking about what his father did to him in therapy, much less to some lady he doesn’t really know. Even in therapy, he’s broken down, run out of the office, and gotten violent because he didn't want to mention rape, sexual assault, or any of the other horrible words used to describe what his father did to him.</p><p>"She needs to leave me the fuck alone! And I'm not going back to therapy either!" He stood up suddenly and began pacing, a sign that as a defense mechanism, his anxiety and ADHD were rearing their heads.</p><p>Seeing that angle of conversation was going to backfire, Josh changed course after nodding to acknowledge that he empathizes with Ethan. “That’s a pretty sweet set-up you have here,” he says, nodding to Ethan’s computer station. “Is that new?”</p><p>Ethan changed almost instantly, deeply appreciating the change of subject. "Uh...yeah. The Stepsens’ bought me a new computer and said it was from Alfie, but I think Jackie actually picked it out." He didn’t call Alfie his "brother" because Alfie was absolutely not his brother. These people weren't family, and they never would be. Not really. He didn’t have a family anymore.</p><p>Realizing how alone he felt, Ethan was overcome with a need for physical contact. His shoulders slumped. As he stood up and walked toward Josh, he murmured, "C-can I have a hug...?" It was his own insecurity that made him reach for Josh, he always ended up letting his guard down with him. That, and he was trying to avoid the lecture he knew was coming for how he spoke to his adoptive mother.</p><p>“C’mere.” Inside, Josh was grinning like a shark. Outwardly, he opened his arms and gestured for Josh to come over, pulling the little boy onto his lap and wrapping him up into a big hug. He’s been careful not to show much physical affection toward Ethan, so when he gives it, the boy soaks it up like a dry sponge.</p><p>Josh’s body is strong and fit, he’s very good at giving warm, comforting hugs. Hell, he was able to move his legs in such a way before pulling Ethan down that his semi shouldn’t even register on the boy’s radar. He can’t resist smelling Ethan’s hair as he pulls the boy’s head to his chest. He smells fresh, innocent and clean in that distinctive way that only children can. That’s not helping with Josh’s situation.</p><p>“I’m sorry things are hard right now, for you, buddy. And you’re right, they aren’t your family. But the Stepsens are trying their best to become your family, yet you’re shutting them out and calling her a stupid whore,” he says, voice mildly disapproving. “The Josh I know is better than that. I know you’re trying hard, but I think that we both know you can try a little bit harder.”</p><p>At first, it was comforting. Ethan closed his eyes and breathed gently. It wasn’t often he asked for this kind of comfort. He was used to having to suck it up but his therapist had been working with him about asking for what he needed. And the hug was really nice. But as he listened to Josh's words, he began to grow annoyed again.</p><p>Of course Mr. Mackenzie would be on her side! All of his concerns come pouring out, "But...she shouldn't have asked!! And when I said I didn't want to talk, Jackie pushed more. It’s not just that, she's pushy about school and the Internet. I’ve got so many curfews and rules I can barely keep track! I hate it here!!! Nobody at school likes me or wants to be my friend!!” Ethan knew he was whining, but he had no one else to whine to and didn’t have anyone else he could tell.</p><p>Josh squeezes the boy to him one more time, but knows he can’t keep holding him because of the fake propriety he needs to uphold. He shifts Ethan to the side, so he’s sitting on the bed next to him, the sides of their bodies touching. It’s easier not to have to worry about the kid feeling his boner, too.</p><p>“I’m not saying it’s your fault, Ethan. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like Mrs. Stepsen and I have some things we need to talk about. I’ll see if I can get her to understand how important it is to let you have access to your computer, the internet, and your privacy. And I’ll see what I can do about getting her to let you ride the bus.”</p><p>He lets out a big sigh and rubs at his face. “I’m sorry you’re having trouble making friends. I have trouble making friends, sometimes, too. I use a server called CoolGuys to meet people and make friends but unfortunately it’s 18+, so you can’t use it. There must be something similar on Discord for younger people, though. It’s hard enough to go through what you’re going through, much less alone. Check online—maybe you can find someone who understands what you’re going through. “</p><p>Ethan nodded gently and stood up, stealing one last fast hug before sitting on his desk. After not having touched anyone in two weeks, he'd had his fill of touch for a while. Ethan sat back on his chair and sighed looking down at his feet. He did feel a little ashamed for how he treated her because he knows she was trying to be nice. "I-I guess I can give Mrs. Stepsen another chance...but I'd feel better if I could at least walk to school," he adds hopefully.</p><p>“Isn’t your school about two miles away?” Josh asked. “I know you can take care of yourself—-and have for years—it’s just that you’d have to walk about four miles a day. I think I could convince her to let you take the bus but I’m not sure about that walk. It’s a long way and there are some major roads you’d have to cross.”</p><p>He leans in toward Ethan, “As long as I’m talking to her, is there anything else you would like me to discuss with Mrs. Stepsen? I know you don’t want to talk to her about what happened and I’ll tell her to stop trying to. I personally think it would be helpful for you to continue talking with a therapist, but you’re old enough now to make those kinds of decisions on your own,” he lies. He knows that given the option, Ethan probably won’t go. And that will be one less adult looking out for him.</p><p>Ethan sighed and leaned back in his chair, glaring at the ceiling that hadn't done anything to him. Eventually, he nodded in agreement—at least he'd be able to listen to his own music on the bus, not the country shit Jackie listened to on the radio. Ethan scooted forward a little, giving Josh a big, hopeful stare, “C-can I have my phone back? I know that you are supposed to have it for the first month I’m in my new home...but...I promise not gonna run away...not again anyway,” he says a little guiltily. “I..it has pictures of my mom on there...and I miss looking at them...please? Can I have it back?" Everybody told Ethan his eyes were pretty, so when something is super important, he uses his puppy dog eyes to try and sway the results his way.</p><p>“Nice try, Ethan,” he’d love to give in to the begging because then he’d have more immediate access to the kid, but on the other hand it makes him rageful when kids try to manipulate him—they don’t know how much restraint he’s already showing. To pout and make eyes at him...it's asking a lot of him. He only has so much self control when little sirens like Ethan keep throwing themselves at him.</p><p>“It’s a standard month of no phone access, to help you bond with your new adoptive family. That isn’t a flexible requirement I can ignore, it’s mandated by the county.” That was technically true, but if he gave it back, no one would really care. “If you give me your passcode I can text you the pictures of your mom. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait two more weeks like everybody else.” that will either shut him up or give Josh access to his phone—either way is a win for him.</p><p>Josh stands off, brushing his hands off on his thighs. “It was good to see you again. You’re a tough kid. I know you’ll get through this,” he said with a reassuring smile.</p><p>Ethan stood up to see Josh off and nodded, "My password is my birthday… 01-23-11." He smiles a little and sighs. "I-I don't think Jackie will let me use her phone to get the pictures, though...but it would be nice to have them..."</p><p>“Instead of texting them to Mrs. Stepsen, maybe give me your e-mail address? That way you can have them on your desktop,” and hopefully your email contains your username like very other dumb kid in the universe, he doesn’t add.</p><p>Ethan’s heart leapt and he nodded, before turning to his desk and quickly writing down his email address and password. He didn’t think twice about giving Josh his password, since he trusted the man."T-thank you so much, Josh!"</p><p>The boy darted forward, stealing one last hug, his head just coming to middle of the man's stomach. "So....I’ll get to see you in two weeks then?," he asked as he pulled away, suddenly feeling clingy and like he wanted to go with Josh. Josh always joked about adopting the kids he worked with and how they're like one big family to him. Ethan had often thought how nice it would be to be adopted by someone as cool as Josh.</p><p>Josh hugs Ethan tightly before letting go, “You’re doing a good job. I’m proud of you.” He ruffles the kids beautiful blonde hair. He really could be a model, fuck.</p><p>“It was good to see you. How about you stay up here for at least 15 minutes while I have a chat with Mrs. Stepsen, okay?” Josh said, already starting down the stairs.</p><p>That had worked better than he could have ever dreamed. Josh had intended to get the address and e-mail the pictures of his mom to the kid—but now he had access to the entire e-mail account and—probably—the password that Ethan uses for everything. Josh walks into the kitchen and smiles at Mrs. Stepsen.</p><p>“We need to talk.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to VomitCenter for beta'ing this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It had been over a week since Ethan saw Josh last and things had begun to settle. He still hated school, but at least Mr. and Mrs. Stepsen had changed their rules for him using the computer. Now, he can use the computer for as long as he needs to, but he still has to be off by 10pm on school nights, 10:30pm on Fridays and Saturdays. However, with the program he'd downloaded, he knew how to bypass the time limitation.</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>It was Friday night and he was clicking away. After his talk with Josh, he had downloaded Discord and looked around for a friendly server, but it was overwhelming and he hadn’t really had any luck. Remembering that Josh had said something about ‘cool guys,’ he starts searching around. After about 5 minutes, bingo!,  he finds the server Josh must have talking about, </span>
  <b>coolguys18+</b>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Theoretically, Ethan knew that he shouldn’t join the server. He wasn’t even close to eighteen and he’s not going to find any friends his age there. But then again--he had been trying to make friends his age and had completely struck out. It would be kind of discriminatory of him to say he wouldn’t be friends with people just because they were older. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Ethan hesitated for a few minutes, before changing his username from his actual name to the name he uses for all of his gaming, Effen. He joined </span>
  <b>coolguys18+</b>
  <span>, gave himself some roles, and started looking around the server and saying ‘hi’ in general and striking up a few casual conversations. There was a lot of activity on the server and it was pretty overwhelming for Ethan, but he thought he kept up okay. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Josh hadn’t really known what he was looking for until he found it. Every day for the last 9 days he has scrolled through the welcome-new channel, looking for Ethan. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The server was pretty big, so there were lots of people joining every day—over a hundred. He’d been getting kind of nervous that maybe Ethan hadn’t taken the bait when he dropped the server name, but then at 10:43pm, the bot announced: </span>
  <b>Effen has slid into the server.</b>
</p><p>
  <span>Sure, there’s a chance that that’s not Ethan, but since he knows that a handle the games that the boy plays, he’s pretty damn sure it’s him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He watches as the kid tries to awkwardly interact with people and it takes everything he can to not immediately pounce on him, especially when </span>
  <b>ArticfoXXX96</b>
  <span> starts chatting him up. The man is shameless and has an uncanny ability to spot the kids on the server—although with Ethan it isn’t hard because of all of the misspellings and emojis. Plus, even when he types he sounds pure. It’s a wonder the mods didn’t kick him off in the first 5 minutes after he mentioned being excited about ‘finally being allowed to go to school on the bus,’ which was pretty suspect. Josh doesn’t want to miss his chance and posts a fish hook in </span>
  <b>looking-for-friends</b>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: hey i am 20yo male. any guys in the tri-state area wanna be friends? i’m looking for someone to chat with, maybe even eventually vc or meet up if ur not a serial killer. i just moved here and its lonely sumtimes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ethan got used to the server pretty quickly. He even made a friend or two, talking about video games and movies and other silly stuff. It was actually kinda fun. </span>
  <b>ArticfoXXX96</b>
  <span> (or Arty as he'd asked Evan to call him) seemed cool and had even complimented Ethan on his cool PFP (even though he had to google what that meant. It means Profile Picture by the way). Arty had already sent him a friend request! </span>
</p><p>
  <b>ArticfoXXX96</b>
  <span>: you seem really cool Effen! i have to go to work but i’ll ttyl!! </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: thnks! see you soon!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After </span>
  <b>ArticfoXXX96 </b>
  <span>left, Ethan tooled around the server a little more and found the </span>
  <b>looking-for-friends</b>
  <span> channel. That was exactly what he was looking for! He noticed the second post, which was from </span>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>, looking for someone to be his friend in Ethan’s area!! That’s awesome!! Ethan had already messaged him to say ‘hi’ when he realized that maybe he shouldn’t tell someone on the internet the area of the country that he lives in. There’s nothing he can do about it, and </span>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span> had told him his location first, so it probably wasn’t that big of a deal. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: hey...i think we live in the same area. ive been looking for friends too!!!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Josh fist-pumped and it jostled the bed, startling Emma. Ever the doting husband, he shushed her back to sleep before answering the DM. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: Cool! Do you like it here? I just moved here and it’s really...nice? I guesss. Like i can tell i’m suppsoed to like it but honestly i kinda hate it here rn. everyone in my class has either ignored me or been a lil bitch</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For Ethan, it was like breathing a breath of fresh air. This guy totally understood what he was feeling! And he had just moved in, too, and was a college student! The fact that he went to school still made Ethan feel so much more comfortable. People who go to school are usually really smart.  And for some reason, the kid equated that with safety. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: Omg! I litterally moved here three weeks ago! I've not really had a lot of time to get used to the place yet, my guardian's are kinda protective...only just letting me start catching the bus to school! and yeah, i know what you mean...no one in my school wants to know me either...</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: ugh!!! That sucks! what kinda guardians do you have? i just aged out of the system two years ago so know how that goes</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: whaaaat?! you're a care kid too?! damn that's really cool! I mean- not that you were a care kid but...that's really cool!</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: I can't really say what kind of guardians I have...I might get in trouble...they are always on me not to talk to people on the internet</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: i get it no worries. I just meant like if you were gonna be headin back to your family or in foster or got adopted. I went into the system a little later when i was already ‘too old’ and ‘too damaged’ (13yo) so aged out. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: Nobody wants boys which was fine with me bc i didn’t want to get placed with some fuxking do-gooder anyway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ethan laughed and immediately felt a pang of guilt. Since his outburst, the Stepsens had been a lot more careful about how they interact with him and Mrs. Stepsen has actually been really nice. But they kind of did fit into the do-gooder category. </span>
</p><p><b>Mustangman2001</b><span>:</span> <span>how old are you?</span><span><br/>
</span></p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: yeah...i feel you...I was adopted not long ago, but I don't wanna get in trouble, but my family at least seem to be trying...</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: you think your age would get you in trouble?  you don’t have to tell me but i wouldn’t tell anybody</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>:  what do you like to do for fun</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ethan feels a little guilty not telling Mustang how old he is, but he knows he probably shouldn’t. He could get kicked off the internet, his adoptive parents could get told, maybe even the police would come. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: uhh...I play a lot of video games, Minecraft, Roblox, league of legends, that kinda stuff, i've not got to play alot though, i've been having hard time adjusting to everyhign. :P</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: well from what you said you had to move to live with them, so that always blows. i used t get uprooted every 4-7 months so never really had anybody on my side</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: now that i finally have my own place  and I’m not moving anytime soon i’m tryin to make friends</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He feels bad, Mustang telling him all about his life and it looks like Ethan doesn't even trust his new friend with his age or any other information about him. He knows you shouldn’t lie to your friends. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: promise you won't tell the group i'm 11 by the way...</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: I know that feeling...before I was adopted I can't count how many times i moved...it really sucks, but it beats living with my abusive dad and drug addict mom</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as he types down some of his personal information, the boy’s heart begins to race nervously. What if Mustang won’t like him anymore because he’s so young? Or he might thing that he does drugs like his mom. Ethan’s mind goes on overdrive with anxiety that is allayed the second Mustang responds to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: don’t worry man i won’t tell. your super mature for your age anyway so you belong as an honorary member at least :P  that’s cool. i’m 20...i hope you don’t mind</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>:  yeah you’ve got a good out look on things . Where your at is better</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>:i dont’ care. Right now the people who adopted me are trying to get me to call them ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ and have started paperwork to try and change my last name to theirs. i’m freaking out.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>:  thats fucked up. i mean if you wanted to that’s one thing but they shouldn’t ask you. i wouldn’t have changed mine. I hated my family but ...they’re still family yyou know? You only get one blood family and changing your last name kinda erases it</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>:  when you’ve been through what we’ve been through you grow up fast</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ethan’s face burned at the praise from his new friend. He wanted to make sure that he was able to keep talking to Mustang, so sent him a friend request, feeling like he hoped he wasn’t bothering the man by asking to be his friend. When he finally looked at the clock, his eyes widened comically--it was past 11pm.  </span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: Shit! I gtg! stupid adoptive family wanna introduce me to ‘my new extended family’ tomorrow...</span>
</p><p>
  <b>mustangman2001</b>
  <span>: talk to you tomorrow then. glad i found someone normal in this god forsaken town</span>
</p><p>
  <b>Effen</b>
  <span>: yeah same! I'll try and get on earlier tomorrow! TTYL!  :)</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Ethan logged off, turning the computer off and got into bed. He had a smile on his face as he closed his eyes. Finding someone who understood him felt good. For the first time since he moved to the Stepsens, he fell asleep minutes after he laid his head down. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks to That_One_Shipper for betaing this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Josh made sure to message Ethan at least 10-12 times a day after that. He intentionally fostered their connection by paying the little boy compliments, laughing at other people on the server with him, and sending regular pictures from his everyday life (nothing Ethan could recognize, of course). </p><p>After three days, Josh had messaged the moderators of coolguys18+ with a screenshot of his chat with the boy, where Ethan said he was eleven. The moderators said they would keep it anonymous and kicked Ethan off of the server for being underage without providing proof. The kid was upset that he got kicked off, but recovered quickly and spent even more time messaging Mustang. Josh was happy to get all of the unpredictable variables of the server out of the way and cut Ethan off from a possible source of other friends. </p><p>Ethan was so eager. It would have been sad if it hadn’t been such good news for Josh—he hadn’t masturbated this much since Mason. Everything Josh did, he did to keep the boy engaged and enamored with him, wanting Ethan’s emotional bond to Mustang to be strong before he starts testing the boy’s limits.</p><p>By all accounts it was a pretty uneventful fourth week in the Stepsen house. Ethan had played video games with Alfie and even talked to Jackie while she was making dinner. He wasn’t putting a lot of effort into getting to know his adoptive family though. Every spare minute he spent thinking of one particular person, Mustang. Ethan loved receiving pictures that gave him a glimpse into his life. He seemed so cool! He spent as much time as he could on the computer, chatting with him.</p><p>“Ethan, it's dinner time! Come on down, please!” David called up the stairs. </p><p>“COMING!” Ethan yelled back as he typed out a quick goodbye to Mustang, who had just finished talking about his own father anw what a prick he was. Ethan had shared with Mustang some of the stuff about how his dad had been abusive— in a few different ways. It had him on edge but ultimately it had been good to be able to talk about his dad to a friend. </p><p>He ran downstairs, pulling up at the table and noticing it was set for two people. David must be the only one eating with him. "No Jackie or Alfie tonight?" he asked curiously. He knew it annoyed David that he didn't call his adoptive parents Mom and Dad, but he couldn't, and never would. </p><p>“They’re at  Alfie’s soccer practice,” David said. Ethan vaguely remembered that Jackie had told him she and Alfie would be at the athletic center until late today. Ethan sat at the dinner table, listening to David talk. He wasn't particularly listening but at least David didn’t seem to require his input. </p><p>After a while, there was a lull and Ethan felt pressured to contribute. “I almost have enough allowance saved up for the gaming headset I want,” he said excitedly. “Hopefully by next weekend I should be able to afford it!"</p><p>David looked over his glasses at Ethan, then took another bite of his baked potato. He chewed and only talked when he was finished, “Oh? You’re saving up money? How are you getting it?” David asked. He knew that as a foster kid, Ethan had gotten a small weekly allowance, but he and Jackie have never given Alfie an allowance and he wasn’t about to start with Ethan.</p><p>“Jackie said that I could keep the $10 a week I got as a foster allowance, so long as my behaviour is good, do all my chores, and keep up in school," Ethan protested. </p><p>“Ah.” David said, continuing to eat. The silence stretched out between them before his new adoptive father said, “Well, Jackie and I will need to talk about if that is appropriate or not.  It doesn’t seem fair for you to get money to use as you want while Alfie gets nothing. And even if we did want to do an allowance, you hit it right on the head, Buddy. It would depend on your behavior and although I can see you’ve made some sort of effort, the way you yelled at Jackie when you first got here crossed the line. As far as I know you still haven’t apologized to her. Or tried to call her ‘Mom’ even though you know it would make her happy,” he says disapprovingly.</p><p>David’s words hurt. Ethan was trying at school, and he has been intentional about engaging with Alfie and Jackie. And while he hadn't apologised, Jackie had told him not to worry about it and that she shouldn’t have asked. "S-s-she said I didn't have to and she understands why I can’t call her ‘Mom.’ I thought she would have told you..but she understands why it’s difficult for me and it’s the same reason I can’t call you D...D…d,” he stutters, unable to even say the word. He shut up and then looked down, picking at his food, suddenly feeling like he was nothing "S-sorry David...."</p><p>“Well, I’m glad you and Jackie have been able to come to some kind of agreement....is there something with your dad? Is that the reason you don’t think you can call me ‘Dad?’ Or is it just because we haven’t gotten to spend enough time together? I know I haven’t had much time since you moved in but I have the weekend off so maybe we can spend the whole thing together bonding,” he offers, completely blind to Ethan’s emotions.</p><p>Hearing David’s tone-deaf remark makes Ethan almost choke on his food. Was David trying to be funny? He knows that his adoptive family had access to his file and had been made aware of what had happened to him in his birth home. He suddenly lost his appetite, even though just a minute ago his stomach had been growling. </p><p>“I-I'm done...m-may I be excused?" Ethan asked, face pale as he repeatedly told himself not to think about it. He wasn’t sure if David was making him think about his dad on purpose or if he just didn’t understand, the man’s face was impossible to read. He looked down at the table, rage and anxiety swelling inside of him. He’d done so well at the Stepsen’s so far, only losing his shit a few times, and he hadn’t snapped at Alfie even when it seemed like the boy was intentionally trying to piss him off yesterday. But he could tell that he wasn’t going to be able to control himself this time. His hurt and anger fought to get to the surface—he needed to get out of the room, he needed to be in his bedroom, he wanted to talk to someone who understood—Mustang.  “I-I-I’m not hungry anymore.”</p><p>David’s brows furrowed, “You haven’t eaten a quarter of your dinner. You may not be excused. In this family, we stay at the table until everyone is done eating as a way to show we want to spend time with them.” David takes a sip of water and sets the glass down on the table. It’s loud with neither of them speaking. David’s voice goes a little chastising, “You didn’t answer my question, Ethan.”</p><p>"Y-you're joking....right?" he couldn't quite keep the attitude out of his voice. He was hurt that David was asking him about his father, surely he knew that that was a sore spot for Ethan. The way David kept pushing was unexpected and insensitive.  Ethan stood from the table, upset. "Y-you s-should read my file...maybe then you'd fucking understand..."</p><p>"Well, Ethan, that's why I asked you. I read your file and frankly, some of the stuff that's written in there seems a little imaginative. I mean, I don't believe a man would touch his own son or sell him to other men. Maybe that kind of stuff happens in third world countries, but this is the United States." David looks like he truly believes what he's saying--that his misplaced national pride precludes terrible stuff from happening. "That's why I asked you about what happened. I want the true story. And I don’t want you swearing."</p><p>Ethan's eyes widened. David was just like the others. No one ever believed him. David wasn’t there! He never saw the looks his dad gave him! He didn’t have to try not to cry when the touching got too intense!! Ethan’s face flooded with red and tears started falling without his permission. He shouted defiantly at David, "I'M NOT LYING! I'M NOT! YOU WEREN'T THERE...YOU DIDN'T SEE...FEEL OR....OR..." suddenly he felt sick, his chest hurt and memories began flooding in, the pain, the fear, everything was becoming too much. He needed to get out.  "FUCK YOU, DAVID!!"</p><p>David's fist smashed into the table as he stood up from his chair, and roared, "Listen here, Ethan, in my house no one speaks to me like that!"</p><p>Ethan heard David’s fist hit the table and his heart dropped. He stopped thinking, stopped crying—all he could think was RUN. And that's what he did. His little legs carried him up the stairs as fast as they could take him, tripping a couple of times as he ran. In his head, he was back at home, running from a drunken man who was pulling his pajama bottoms down as he fell on the stairs. </p><p>It took everything he had to shake himself from the memory, regain his footing and make it into his room. He slammed his door,scrambling to lock it before looking for somewhere to hide. His eyes fell on his bed and he scooted down, army crawling underneath it. He made it to the place that felt the safest—the back corner—and curled in on himself before finally letting himself show weakness. As silently as he could, he sobbed with his whole body.</p><p>Like most men used to having complete control, when something isn't going his way, David thinks he's being disrespected. Pissed, David chases after the boy, almost catching him on the stairs and his huge fist coming down on Ethan's door making it quake and groan as he pounded on it. </p><p>"ETHAN! YOU OPEN THIS DOOR! RIGHT NOW!"</p><p>Ethan curled in on himself tighter, flashes of intrusive memories coming to him. He could feel hands on his body, in private places he didn't want to think about. He shivered and tried to shake himself out of it as he heard David slamming his hands against the door. His hands were trembling as he reached up to grip his head, shouting, "LEAVE ME ALONE!"</p><p>There is a brief silence and he hears David stomping off to get something and coming back. His voice is louder and more irritated, “Ethan, I”m giving you one more chance. I’m counting to three and you better unlock your door! It’s unlocking either way and it will be better for you if you’re the one that unlocks it!”</p><p>Ethan wanted to remain curled up and underneath the bed—he was trembling and scared and it was the only place he felt safe. He knew that David’s threat wasn’t an empty one and flashes of the man forcibly pulling him out from underneath the bed made Ethan respond. “O-ok. I’m coming,” he stammered as he crawled out, taking a deep breath before unlocking the door. He took a few steps back so he was further away from David. The kid’s face was red and blotchy and his eyes were full of distrust and fear, “P-p-please don’t hurt me,” he begged. </p><p>Ethan’s voice was small and weak, he hadn’t let himself sound like this since he first entered foster care, but today was too much. "I-I'm sorry...I-I...just please don't hurt me..." he began to sob again, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, trying desperately to be brave.</p><p>The anger melted from David’s face and he crouched down in front of the crying kid. Alfie has never acted like this and David himself has never before acted the way he has today—he hadn’t felt like he needed to since Alfie never crossed his boundaries. He can see that Ethan is truly upset and that David himself must have made a misstep somewhere, although he doesn’t know where. He put his palms out like he’s trying to calm a wild animal. </p><p>“Ethan, thank you. You did a great job coming to open the door even when you didn’t want to. I’m sorry for whatever I said that upset you back there and I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”</p><p>God, the kid was crying a lot. If he’d cried like that, his Pop would have....but that’s not the world they live in anymore, and he doesn’t want to be like his dad, either. “How about you tell me what I said that got you so upset, and then I’ll let you stay in your room for the rest of the night if you want to. If that helps you feel safe and comfortable.” He’s trying, he really is. He just sucks at this kind of thing. Jackie is the one that usually handles the kids.</p><p>Ethan didn’t want to talk about it—he didn’t want to even say it out loud. Especially not when it was obvious that David didn’t believe him and was only saying these things to try and placate him. "I-I can't call you my d-my- ....David I can't....p-please don't make me....I-I'm not a liar....I-I know I've told a few lies in the past...b-but not about what he did...I never lied about that..."</p><p>David’s eyebrows raised as he started to understand that maybe....Ethan believed his dad did all that stuff to him...or maybe it did happen. A chill went down his spine.  He’d have to talk with Ethan’s social worker to get the full story. </p><p>”It’s okay, buddy. I’m sorry. I’m still new to this, too, so I’m going to make mistakes just like you are. I didn’t mean to upset you so much and thank you for telling me.” He stands up, “How about you give me a big hug, and then you can use the internet as late as you want tonight. Try and have some fun on those games of yours.” He opened his arms for a hug, the fact that Ethan might not want to be touched right now not even registering as a possibility.</p><p>Ethan shook his head, quickly taking a step backwards. He wasn't ready for that. David reminded him heavily of his Dad—calm, then angry, then calm again and quick to blame everything on him. Ethan swallowed hard, his eyes remaining set on the ground, ready for the hug to be forced and possibly go even further. He didn’t really know what kind of man David was. He forced himself to speak, "N-no thank you...I-I don't want anyone to touch me right now," he said. His therapist had taught him to assert his boundaries clearly and that people would obey them. "I-I just want to g-go to sleep...c-can I lock my door again? I-I don't want to see anyone tonight."</p><p>Sometimes, David knows, kids need incentives to decide, “Look—you can either give me a quick hug, or you can take a nap for an hour with your door unlocked and then come back downstairs to spend time with the family when Alfie and Jackie get back home. Those are the only two choices. It’s up to you.” It would be nice if he came back downstairs and tried to spend some time getting to know his family. So far, David has really no idea who Ethan is or what the boy likes, other than ‘computers.’</p><p>It felt like Ethan and David were speaking different languages.  Didn’t the man understand?  Touching is the last thing he wants right now. And Alfie didn’t seem like he liked him and probably wouldn't want to hang out, although he knows Jackie would appreciate it. But still—he felt like David was seriously overstepping. “Y-y-you can't m-make me leave my door unlocked...I-I can't sleep with it unlocked," he explained. One of the only conditions of his adoption was that he was able to lock his door, and the Stepsens had agreed, saying they only wouldn’t let him lock it if they thought he was going to harm himself.f. “Please, I-I don't want a hug."</p><p>Ethan’s being a brat. David doesn’t like it. “Ethan, if you don’t pick one of those options and instead choose to lock your door regardless of what I say, I will take that door off of its hinges. Privacy is a privilege, not a right. And if you can’t be reasonable—touching me for 2 seconds or not locking the door—you’ll lose that privilege.”</p><p>The child’s suspicions were confirmed—David was like his father. Without another word, Ethan chose to get on his bed and lie down. His mind can’t stop thinking about the idea that he won’t be able to lock the door and that anyone could come in while he was sleeping, but it beat letting the man lay his hands on him. Ethan closed his eyes—he didn’t want to see David and was trying to stay calm, trying to push the intrusive thoughts away. “Y-y-you can go...I-I won't lock it I swear..."</p><p>David’s thin lips pursed and he crossed his arms on his chest. He obviously wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t enter Ethan’s room. “We are going to have to both try to understand each other more. Maybe spend a lot more time together, bonding,” he suggests. To him, it sounds like it would be helpful, but to Ethan it must sound like torture. “It’s 6:30 pm. Be downstairs in 60 minutes,” he says, voice a little sharper than usual. Ethan can hear him walking down the stairs and breathes a sigh of relief. Silently, he gets up and closes the door, but he doesn’t lock it. He can’t risk his door being taken off the hinges. He lays back down and tries to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A few incredibly awkward hours later, Ethan ascends the stairs and shuts his door, instantly locking it. It still wasn't bedtime, but Jackie had noticed he was completely overwhelmed and told him he could go upstairs if he wanted to and he had. Despite not expecting to, Ethan had actually had fun when they started playing board games, although David sent weird looks his way all night. He felt like he had to be careful not to piss off his adoptive dad again.</p><p>Ethan slumped against the door for a second before turning his computer on. While he was downstairs, his mind had kept circling back to Mustang and how much Ethan wanted to talk to him. He felt bad he hadn’t told him he would be gone for a while. When he finally opened Discord, his anxiety reared its head again—Mustang had messaged him a lot and then just went silent. He’s probably really mad.</p><p><strong>Effen:</strong> hey! I'm sorry! something went down…’Family’ stuff.</p><p>On the other side of town at Josh’s house, Emma was home for the night. She’d made some vague attempts at spending time together after dinner that Josh had ignored in favor of ‘watching the game.’ In reality, he was going to try to push things with Ethan a little bit further tonight and didn’t want her around. She liked to spend the days that she wasn’t taking care of her sick mother spending as much time with Josh as possible, but she’d get over it.</p><p><strong>mustangman2001:</strong> shit that sucks. i know you might not want to talk about it</p><p>Josh's smile goes predatory. Ethan has proven that he doesn’t want to leave a written trail about what's happening. It could be terrible if the Stepsens found it. Josh’s hoping to use that to his advantage.</p><p><strong>mustangman2001</strong>: what about VC? then you wouldn’t have to worry about what you can say</p><p>Ethan wracked his brains for what VC could stand for but came up empty. He hated sounding dumb but he asked for clarification anyway. Mustang wouldn’t mind.</p><p><strong>Effen:</strong> what's a VC?</p><p><strong>mustangman2001:</strong> oh sorry. it stands for ‘voice chat’ and basically it’s like a telephone call through discord. no one can track it</p><p>Josh doesn’t know if that’s strictly true, but it doesn’t matter. It’s what Ethan wants to hear and the kid will believe him.</p><p>Ethan knows that he shouldn’t talk to Mustang. He doesn't know this guy and he’s way older. But at the same time, Ethan really wants to. He feels like Mustang gets him. It makes Ethan nervous..but excited.</p><p><strong>Effen: </strong>are u sure? I don't wanna get into trouble...</p><p><strong>mustangman2001:</strong> i mean if you think your gonna get in trouble don’t. But if you want to talk to somebody who understands about what happened...or just bitch about your adoptive family for a little..VC could really help.</p><p><strong>mustangman2001:</strong> plus, i have to admit ive been wondering what you sound like. if you talk as cute as you type...</p><p>Ethan wrinkled his nose at Mustang’s comment, but flushed. The attention felt good, especially from a person like Mustang.</p><p><strong>Effen:</strong> I'm not cute, but alright fine</p><p>A few seconds passed before Ethan realised, like a complete dork—he had no idea how to start the phone call.</p><p><strong>Effen:</strong> How do I do a VC?</p><p><strong>mustangman2001:</strong> here.. i’ll add you as a friend and then call you. just give me a min<br/><strong>mustangman2001:</strong> and yes u are btw</p><p>Ethan received the friend request and promptly accepted before a bubble came up with a ringtone, practically scaring him out of his skin. He lets his heart beat calm down before picking up.</p><p>"H-hello?"</p><p>Josh knows he has to take care to disguise his voice—he hasn’t talked to Ethan much on the phone, so the kid probably wouldn’t recognize it, but better safe than sorry. He has always made a good impression of one of his best friend’s voices, so he uses it now. “Effen? Hey..it’s me. I guess it's a little weird to be talking and you only know me as Mustang...my name is Jordan,” he lies easily.</p><p>Ethan’s face is bright red, his heart beating out of his chest. His name is Jordan! And his voice is so deep--so masculine. He falters for a second, then clears his throat, trying to sound as natural as possible. "Y-yeah....b-but it's okay, it’s n-nice to meet you Jordan. You sound familiar. Maybe we've bumped into each other somewhere before?"</p><p>A clear, attractive laugh rings out on the other side of the line, “That would be cool, wouldn’t it? It’s not impossible, since we’re in the same city. Maybe we’ve eaten in the same restaurant or something,” he jokes. “Wow...I wasn’t expecting your voice to be the way it is.” Acting flustered and like he realized that Ethan might take it the wrong way, Josh backtracked. “That's not what I mean..I mean..it’s good. You sound good, just a little young,” he says, flirting a little.</p><p>Ethan blushed more, smiling as Jordan becomes flustered, "T-thanks, I guess. Y-you don't sound the way I expected either..." he didn't really know what to say, and couldn't help but feel kinda awkward. It wasn’t as easy to talk to Mustang on VC as it was in DMs.</p><p>“So, what was happening with your adoptive family? You sounded pretty upset,” Josh said, steering the conversation how he wanted it to go.</p><p>"Uh...just my adoptive dad, David. He was being a prick. He had the nerve to say that I was lying about what my dad did to me." Evan hadn't told Jordan exactly what that was, and was wondering if he should, but he was riding on the high of knowing that Jordan found him cute and wanted to hear more about it. "D-do you really think I'm cute?"</p><p>Josh decides to follow the kid’s lead and leave all the drama on the back burner because he won’t get Ethan feeling sexy by making him talk about past abuse...although that would turn Josh on. He briefly imagines Ethan crying on the other end of the phone, talking to his ‘confidant’ about his dad raping him while Josh sits there and beats off. Fuck.</p><p>Instead, Josh smiles into the phone so that Ethan can hear it in his voice, “I mean..is that bad? I like everything that I know about you. And your voice is cuter than I imagined it would be. I can’t say for sure whether or not you’re cute,” he wheedles, “because I haven’t seen your picture...I’d love to have a face to put to that voice though...”</p><p>"N-no faces...." Ethan said quickly through a heavy blush. Talking on VC was already way out of his comfort zone and he'd heard and read horror stories of people having their identities stolen online. "S-sorry but thank you for the compliment. Y-you do know I'm eleven, right? S-some people might say that's a little weird."</p><p>“What’s a bit weird?” Josh asks, purposely putting Ethan in the uncomfortable position that if he was going to clarify, he would basically be accusing his new friend of being a child molester. “If you don’t want to do faces...maybe I could see a different part of you? Or your room?” he asks. “I don’t want to show my face either.. I don’t want to get my identity stolen or something. Not that you would do that. Just...with the internet you never know, right?”</p><p>Josh waffles back and forth internally, not wanting to press Ethan too hard, then goes for it, sending a picture he had picked out months ago to be the first one. It’s actually a picture of Josh when he was only a little, although he had debated using someone else to catfish the kid. In the end, this way he can send pics to the kid that will confirm his identity without having to ask someone else to do it.</p><p>Ethan looks at the photo and blushes. Jordan looked good. Really good. So good, the little boy felt his heart race a little and mouth felt dry. He didn't mean to accuse his friend, but Ethan had to admit this felt weird. It probably wasn’t strictly the right thing to do. And maybe it meant there was something wrong with Jordan--and with Ethan--if they both wanted to do this. "N-no I didn't mean that. Y-you're not weird, it’s just people say adults talking to kids is odd, but I don't think you're weird at all," he clarifies quickly, not wanting to offend Jordan.</p><p>The picture he chose is of him kneeling on one knee at a park and getting his neck licked by a cute black and white pit bull dog. He’s in his running clothes, and his body is a little sweaty. He looks good. His face is cropped out of the picture. “Here...I sent you something. This was me from my run this morning.” He knows that sending the photo will put the pressure on Ethan to respond in-kind and he can’t wait to see what kind of a picture Ethan will send.</p><p>Ethan’s eyes came back to the photo and looked at the man's strong neck. He blushed more, flustered. He'd always had a fascination with guys but didn't really know how to deal with it. "Uh...what-what part of me should I send a picture of? If I can’t send my face? My room isn't interesting either..." In truth, Ethan didn’t want to send a picture of his room. He wanted Jordan to see him.</p><p>For Josh, it was easier than taking candy from a baby—literally, those annoying fuckers screamed and cried if you tried to steal from them. He decided not to address Ethan’s concerns about it being odd, someone like him talking to a kid his age. If he didn’t acknowledge it, it would make the kid doubt himself. He was grinning on the other end of the line, “Yeah...what about a shot of your chest? Then I could see what your shirt looks like, the kind of style you like to wear.”</p><p>"Uhh...sure. One sec..." Ethan felt uncomfortable with this but he got up, putting his headphones down and looking at himself in the mirror before realizing he didn’t have his phone. Anger boiled up in him again, mostly directed toward David. Ethan walked back to the computer and picked up his headphones, "D-do you mind waiting until tomorrow? I don't have my phone…” Then, Ethan realized he had a webcam! "Oh...wait! Can I turn my webcam on without showing my face??"</p><p>Josh could barely keep the excitement out of his voice. “Yeah—webcam would work great. Just make sure to keep your head out of the shot and it’ll be fine. Honestly, we could talk like that,” Josh said, hoping he’s not coming on too strong. “It’ll be so good to see you,” he says sincerely, trying to give Ethan some confidence for what must feel like a huge step for him.</p><p>Ethan angled his camera down, so it would show off his blue and white v-neck sleep shirt. He thought it looked good--Jordan would be able to see his collar bone and Ethan thinks his collar bone is especially nice. The frame is big enough to show his short pajama shorts and a few inches of his thighs. He turned the camera on, then gulped and waved nervously "I-is this okay?" Ethan felt extremely nervous and his voice was even trembling a little.</p><p>Josh took a screenshot. Fuck, look at those little threadbare shorts. He slips his hand under the band of his sweatpants and starts fondling his dick. Not with any real purpose, but just to start getting it on board.</p><p>“Yeah, that’s perfect,” Josh says, quick to reassure the kid since he’s so nervous he might decide to turn the webcam off at any point. Very seriously, he adds, “Ok...it was really hard for me to come to this conclusion, but after much deliberation, I’ve decided: You’re just as cute in real life as you are online.” He keeps his tone light and playful, wanting to use humor to get Ethan to forget his worries about the webcam.</p><p>"Thanks...y-you're kinda good looking yourself. I-I guess..." Ethan messed with the sleeves of his hoodie a little. This was more awkward than he thought it was going to be.</p><p>Josh doesn’t respond to the compliment. Adding a little of his signature distraction technique, he asks “Oh hey, I was wondering. Do you like cars?” He couldn’t remember if Ethan did or not, but most kids his age did.</p><p>"Uh...not...really?" Ethan said as he shrugged, starting to come down from his nerves a little. "I like video games?" he said, posing it as more of a question than anything, trying to make conversation.</p><p>Josh doesn’t try to further talk about cars—he only follows trains of conversation that will help him get closer to Ethan. “I like a few video games. Honestly, mostly Overwatch and League of Legends,” Josh says, listing off Ethan’s two favorite games. He’s heard the boy talk about them enough to know that they will get the boy out of his head.</p><p>They ended up talking for a full three hours before Josh ended the call. In his experience, it’s always best to be the first one to end things because it leaves the child wanting more.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>If you would like to have Early Access for Fiction from SCAR consider becoming a beta reader for SCAR or even a collaborator if you have writing experience.) </p><p>  <a href="https://tiny.cc/NI0W4"> Scar Server </a></p><p>Also be sure to check out our other content in the collection made by the other sinful members of Scar!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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